Before Judy’s friends got to her house, she shoved piles and piles of her lacy finger-knitting chain into her closet and shut the door. This way her room would look neat and clean à la Jessica Clean-Room Finch. Now the only thing out of place was the tangled mangle of yarn made by Mouse. But thanks to her friends, that mess would be solved in no time.

When everybody got to her house, they tried to guess what wild and crazy idea Judy had come up with this time.

“I bet we’re going to make the Eiffel Tower out of icing,” said Amy.

“I bet we’re going to build a pyramid out of Jell-O,” said Frank.

“I bet we’re going to prank Stink with Judy’s periscope,” said Rocky.

“Nothing like that,” said Judy.

“We’re just glad you had one of your crazy ideas,” said Rocky. “It means you’re back.”

“Back from where?”

“Never mind,” said Rocky. “Just tell us what the thing is.”

Judy led them up the stairs. Her mood pillow was propped against the door, smiley face out. She flung open the door to her room. “Ta da!” she called.

Rocky froze. Frank gaped. Jessica blinked. Amy took off her glasses and put them back on, like she wasn’t seeing right. Judy’s room was neat as a pin. But right-smack-dab in the middle of the floor was a giant puddle of yarn. A muddle of yarn. One big humongous mess of tangled-up yarn!

“Welcome to Yarn-a-Palooza!” Judy said eagerly.

“Yarn-a-pa-whatta?” asked Jessica.

“We’re going to have a yarn party! Our mission, should we choose to accept the dare — which we will — is to untangle this Yarn Yeti.”

“This is your big idea?” Frank asked.

“You’re from another planet if you think this is fun,” said Rocky.

“Zzzzzzz,” said Amy, pretending to snore.

“I’ll help!” yelped Jessica Finch, picking up a thread of pink yarn.

“C’mon, you guys. It’ll be fun, I promise,” Judy told them.

“About as much fun as . . . watching socks dry,” said Frank.

“Then you guys think of an idea,” said Judy. “In the meantime, Frank, hold out your arms.”

“Why me?” Frank asked as he held out his arms. Judy pulled at the big mess until she found an end. She started to wind the yarn around Frank’s hands. She wrapped and wrapped the yarn in a circle. Green yarn turned into blue yarn, which turned into red yarn.

“Can I put my hands down yet?” asked Frank. “My arms are killing me.”

“Not yet,” said Judy. “Hey, did you guys know a ball of yarn is called a clew?”

“So you’re clew-less?” asked Rocky.

“Get a clew,” said Judy. She cracked herself up.

“Hey, I know. Let’s play CLUE!” said Amy.

“Or . . . I know a level-three spelling game we could play,” said Jessica.

Rocky flared his nose. “Count me out,” he said. “Let’s be detectives again.”

“We could solve a real-life mystery,” said Frank. “You know, like we did when that puppy, Mr. Chips, went missing!”

“Great!” said Judy. Her friends smiled and nodded, eager to hear what the mystery was going to be. “I have an idea . . . ”

“Quiet, everybody,” hissed Rocky. “Judy’s getting one of her brainstorms.”

Judy held a bright-idea finger in the air. “Let’s solve the mystery of how to untangle this big blob of yarn.”

“Aw,” said Rocky. “I thought it was gonna be something big. Something good.”

“Something scary,” said Frank.

“Something interesting,” said Jessica.

“Something not boring,” said Amy.

“Or,” said Judy, “we could play Jessica’s level-three spelling game.”

“I call yellow!” said Rocky, diving for some yellow yarn.

“Brown!” said Frank, elbowing Rocky out of the way.

“Purple!” called Judy.

“Pink!” said Jessica, nudging Rocky.

Everybody pushed and shoved, trying to get to their favorite color.

“Guess what? I know how to read colors,” Amy told them when the ruckus died down. “My mom has a whole book about it.”

“What does brown mean?” asked Frank.

“It means you’re weird!” said Amy.

“Huh?”

“Just kidding. Most people pick blue for their favorite color. Especially boys. But brown means you like nature, you’re strong, and people can count on you.”

Frank held up one arm and flexed his muscle. “That’s me. Ironman Pearl.”

“Now me,” said Rocky.

“Yellow. Yellow means you like the sun, you’re cheerful, and you have a good imagination.”

“Cool,” said Rocky.

“And you make babies cry.”

“Huh?”

“Gotcha! Actually, yellow rooms do make babies cry more. Blue calms people down. And green helps you read better.”

“Do pink!” said Jessica.

“Pink is the color of love,” said Amy.

“Ooh. Jessica’s in love,” Rocky teased.

“In love with spelling,” said Frank.

“How about purple?” asked Judy.

“Purple is the color of kings and queens and means you’ll be rich. And you’re creative.”

“Sweet!” said Judy.

Stink poked his head into Judy’s room. “Can I borrow five dollars?”

“I don’t have five dollars.”

“But you’re gonna be rich, right?”

“Stink, I told you not to spy on me and my friends.”

“Mom needs you downstairs. . . . For a minute.”

“Then hold this.” Judy handed Stink her ball of yarn. “I’ll be right back,” she said to her friends. But when she started downstairs, she could overhear Stink whispering with them.

Mom didn’t need her. Stink had just made that up! Judy hurried back to her room. Everyone fell silent. Rocky poked Frank, who elbowed Amy. “You tell her,” said Frank.

“Tell me what?” said Judy.

“We want you to take a test,” said Amy.

“A test? What is this, school?”

“More like a quiz,” said Rocky.

“An alien test,” Stink said. “Like those magazine quizzes Mom’s always taking.”

“Think of it as a game,” said Amy. She cleared her throat. “Ahem. First question. Do you like the color green?”

“It’s only my second favorite color after purple. Why?”

“Do you eat MARS bars?” asked Rocky.

“I guess. Sometimes. Why are you asking that?”

“Do you wear sunglasses?” asked Jessica.

“When I’m at the beach, yeah. Why do you want to know?”

“Did you ever ride in a spaceship?” asked Frank.

“At Outer Space Land I did.”

“Do you hold your breath when you pass a graveyard?” asked Stink.

“Doesn’t everybody?”

“Do you ever answer a question with a question?” asked Frank.

“Huh?”

“See? I’m telling you,” said Stink.

“Do you ever say, ‘I come in peace’?” asked Amy.

“Nope.”

“Yah-huh,” said Stink. “When we were searching for Bigfoot you did.”

“How many times have you seen the movie E.T.?” asked Rocky.

“Tons of times. But you guys have, too, right?”

“Do you ever say ‘Nanu Nanu’?”

“Nanu Nanu?”

“There! She just said it. That proves it,” said Stink.

“Proves what? That I passed the test?”

“You passed all right,” said Stink. “You are an alien. A for-real outer-space alien.”

“Judy?” called Frank, peering at her through his glasses. “Are you in there?”

“Ring-a-ploopa yarn-a-palooza yada-yada nanu-nanu,” said Judy.

The room got dead quiet. Outer-space quiet. Nobody blinked. Amy looked at Frank, who looked at Rocky. Jessica popped up.

“Um, I just remembered . . . I have to go,” said Jessica. Amy nodded and got up too.

“Me too,” said Rocky.

“Me three,” said Frank, tripping over Amy and Rocky to get out of Judy’s room as fast as he could.

Cheese Louise, thought Judy. Try to be in a good mood, and your friends mistake you for an alien.

Judy ran over to the open window. “Hey, guys!” she called out. “I was just saying thanks! For helping me untangle the yarn.” But her friends were already halfway down the street, their backs to her.